Tag Archives: government

TrumpCare Tribulations

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

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I’m considering putting “ObamaCare” to rest as a central reference. Now, it’s TrumpCare, the AHCA, instead of the lingering ACA. The GOP owns it now. And, now, they need to decide how to handle the matter. Rand Paul has some ideas:

Paul, one of the leading senators out of more than a dozen Republicans in the upper chamber criticizing the bill there, told Breitbart News in this exclusive interview he believes there are at least 35 House Republicans ready to vote against the bill in its current form. And he predicted that, unless some major changes come to the legislation between now and the scheduled vote on Thursday, Ryan will need to withdraw the bill and Republicans will have to start from scratch with a new bill and a new strategy on Obamacare.

Paul said in the in-person interview at his U.S. Senate office in the Russell Senate Office Building:

I think there’s easily 35 no votes right now so unless something happens in the next 24 hours, I would predict they pull the bill and start over. I think if conservatives stick together, they will have earned a seat at the table where real negotiation to make this bill an acceptable bill will happen. But it’s interesting what conservatives are doing to change the debate. We went from keeping the Obamacare taxes for a year—hundreds of billions of dollars—but they’re coming towards us because we’re standing firm. So we have to stick together, and if we do stick together there will be a real negotiation on this. The main goal I have is not to pass something that does not fix the situation. If a year from now, insurance rates and premiums are still going through the roof and it’s now a Republican plan it will be a disservice to the president and all of us if we pass something that doesn’t work.

There are choices: the ACA as is (failing); the AHCA (ACA-lite?); the previous repeal bill (vetoed by Obama, perhaps not by Trump?); complete socialized medicine (not popular but perhaps cheaper than the cobbled-together rat’s nest we have now), or; free market medicine (no longer in American vogue). Pick one, GOP.

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Sergio Go / Twitter / Breitbart.

Trump was on the Hill this morning in an attempt to strong-arm support for the AHCA. Paul makes clear that may not have worked, at least not in the Senate. Still, pick one or the other. Ball’s in your court. It’s going to be the second or third choices or a hybrid, so get cracking.

 

TrumpNet: Just the Facts

19 Sunday Mar 2017

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And this isn’t even the information Trump has promised for the coming weeks:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Infowars.com have obtained credible information from law enforcement sources regarding individual records of U.S. citizens under National Security Agency (NSA) electronic surveillance in the years 2004 through 2010 – a database that suggests both Donald J. Trump and Alex Jones were under illegal, unauthorized government monitoring during those years.

Michael Zullo, formerly the commander and chief investigator of the Cold Case Posse (CCP), a special investigative group created in 2006 in the office of Joseph M. Arpaio, formerly the sheriff in Maricopa County, an Arizona State Certified Law Enforcement Agency, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, provided sections of the database to Infowars.com.

The electronic surveillance database, provided to Zullo by a whistleblower in 2013, was apparently created by the NSA as part of the NSA’s illegal and unconstitutional Project Dragnet electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens, first revealed by news reports published in 2005, as further documented by the revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

Sheriff Arpaio and Chief Investigator Zullo have identified dozens of entries at various addresses, including both Trump Tower in New York City and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, under which Donald Trump was apparently under NSA electronic surveillance from 2004, during President George W. Bush’s term of office, through 2009, the first year of President Obama’s presidency.

The government has the ability to intercept just about all electronic transmissions these days. And, largely, they do just that. What they do with the information depends on several factors, none of them grounded in the law of Anglo-American jurisprudence.

There was little doubt that Trump has spied on. The question was whether he was targeted for something else. If he was, then he is in a unique position now to extract retribution from those who surveilled him. If he wasn’t, then he still has a unique opportunity to address the constant mass spying against nearly all Americans – spying which people either knew about or should have known about 10 or even 20 years ago.

One would think this sort of thing would be taken seriously in the “Land of the Free”. Then again, a bunch of above-average height men in squeaky shoes are playing with balls right now on the TeeVee.

The people must prioritize.

Developing…

A Law to be Forgotten

17 Friday Mar 2017

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A little 1984ish, Caiaphasistic, Nooo-Yak legal news:

In a bill aimed at securing a “right to be forgotten,” introduced by Assemblyman David I. Weprin and (as Senate Bill 4561 by state Sen. Tony Avella), liberal New York politicians would require people to remove ‘inaccurate,’ ‘irrelevant,’ ‘inadequate’ or ‘excessive’ statements about others…

Within 30 days of a ”request from an individual,”
“all search engines and online speakers] shall remove … content about such individual, and links or indexes to any of the same, that is ‘inaccurate’, ‘irrelevant’, ‘inadequate’ or ‘excessive,’ ”
“and without replacing such removed … content with any disclaimer [or] takedown notice.”
“ ‘[I]naccurate’, ‘irrelevant’, ‘inadequate’, or ‘excessive’ shall mean content,”
“which after a significant lapse in time from its first publication,”
“is no longer material to current public debate or discourse,”
“especially when considered in light of the financial, reputational and/or demonstrable other harm that the information … is causing to the requester’s professional, financial, reputational or other interest,”
“with the exception of content related to convicted felonies, legal matters relating to violence, or a matter that is of significant current public interest, and as to which the requester’s role with regard to the matter is central and substantial.”

Failure to comply would make the search engines or speakers liable for, at least, statutory damages of $250/day plus attorney fees.

Weprin (D, Dist. 24) boasts that his family has controlled District 24 four 45 years. He’s also knee-deep in the bankster cabal (“regulator”, yes…), and has other, related political allegiances.

Now, he wants to extend that control and regulation state-wide and world-wide via the internet. Another Democrat standing up tall for free speech! For he low-low price of $250 per day…

I assume this is all related to a scrivener’s error and some of the reported words were jumbled. If not, Weprin, his idiot constituents, his handlers, and the whole NY Assembly can all go to hell. Then, be forgotten.

Perrin’s FY 2018 Federal Budget Review and Counter Analysis

16 Thursday Mar 2017

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Totally. Out. Of. Control.

President Trump released his 2018 Budget Blueprint to MAGA yesterday.

See the Budget Blueprint HERE.

Well, it’s really a little more than 1/3 of the Budget, the “discretionary” spending. The other, majority, parts are essentially off-limits. Those are the “entitlements” – namely: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Here’s the big picture, courtesy of President Obama’s 2017 Budget, which is 99% accurate for comparison:

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National Priorities.

And that was not a true budget, a complete budget. Washington doesn’t do those anymore (unless Trump succeeds). Lately, for the past decade or so, “budgets” have been cobbled together from various separate spending proposals.

Another off-limits chunk is the interest on the federal debt – $303 Billion or 7% for 2017 – it will be much the same for 2018. So, that’s off-limits as is “health” and SSI.

Trump did do some seeming major cutting proposals for much of what’s left:

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NBC News.

That NBC chart looks pretty drastic. It seems horribly radical if you’re a liberal. It seems wonderfully radical if you’re a conservative. I’m neither (or both plus some [or minus some]) and it seems utterly unimpressive to me. Recall that those percentage cuts are each tied to numbers representing other percentages of the whole thing. The net effect is minimal. An explanation from the MAGA Budget 2018, page 49, Table 1 (Caps):

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White House / OMB (BS).

If trump has his way, discretionary spending will be $1.151 Billion for 2018, as opposed to $1.181 Billion in 2017 – a savings of $30 Billion (2.5% of 2017 totals). That’s a cut of .7% off the approximate total budget.

In other words, Trump has taken a fingernail file to a job fit for an axe or a chainsaw or some TNT…

I’m just not impressed … at all. Yes, this is a step in the right direction. Rather, it’s a slight turning of the foot for a small, baby step in that direction. The journey of 1,000 miles begins as such, kind of, sort of, maybe, a little…

Then again, I’m only one of 330 Million or so who resides inside the defunct borders of the Old Republic (maybe one of 270 Million or so actual Americans). I can’t vote on this and no one in power cares what I think. Therefore, I am liberated. I can give you my analysis and counter-proposal free from interference. Here goes:

Let’s imagine that I had dictatorial or god-like powers over the matter. Here’s how I might approach it:

Social Security – Not in the Constitution. Cut 100%. Gone. $1.4 Trillion saved.

Medicare/Medicaid – Not in the Constitution. Cut 100%. Gone. $1.2 Trillion saved.

Interest on the debt – The debt is based on Congress’s Satanic relationship with the Federal Reserve, all of which is contrary to the Constitution. As such, I would abolish the Fed. And I would repudiate and cancel 100% of the debt. In fact, I’d have a total debt Jubilee: all debts (public and private) totally erased. And I would make debt illegal. Usurious lending would be a capital felony. All interest payments eliminated. $.3 Trillion saved.

Military – The Constitution says they can have a standing army for 2 years. They’ve had one for 200 years. And it has nothing to do with Defense – all Offense and that is geared towards money-making for special interests and has nothing to do with “winning” anything. I’d cut it to around $100 Billion for 2018. After that, a 100% complete deletion as all air and land functions are turned over to the Several States and their Militias (or not). The Navy, actually provided for in Article I, I would also turn over to the States or to Privateers on a profit (or not) basis – (that’s how we ran off the British in large part and technology has come a long way since). $.5 Trillion saved.

Other discretionary – Not in the Constitution. Cut 100%. Gone. $.5 Trillion saved. And all unnecessary. The Dept. of Education educates no one. The Department of Energy produces no energy. The Treasury is little more than a middleman between the Fed and Goldman Sachs. The VA would not be needed without a Dept. of Offense. NASA did great things but the future is private space works. Earth existed for something like 4 Billion years without Dept. of the Interior management; odds are it could continue to do so. Etc. Etc. Etc. The States and private citizens could feel free to provide any “services” they thought lacking.

“Government” – It’s fascinating that the actual operation of the government is by far the smallest chunk of the government budget. It’s for the lights and heating for Congress, the White House, etc. With all those other programs eliminated, there would be nothing there to spend on. Therefore, I would completely eliminate that segment completely. Gone. $ saved.

You may have noticed that after one year I would completely eliminate the federal government. To entertain foreign leaders and for other, assorted buffoonery, the various Governors could rotate as “Head of State” in a lottery system.

I also would eliminate your mortgage, credit cards, student loans, etc. – an added bonus of my dictatorship.

Having finished so quickly, I would, like Cincinnatus, retire and return to the farm. I might light up a cigar. I might use this paper to start it:

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White House / OMB (BS).

Building a Wall Around my Museum

16 Thursday Mar 2017

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President Trump has proposed slashing the fire out of liberal-leaning arts programs:

President Donald Trump made good on a long-time conservative goal in his first proposed budget Thursday morning, targeting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities for complete elimination.

I suppose, if this is successful, it would put a kink in my Corvette Museum idea… Just when I was getting ready to submit my application. Figures…

admiral-blue

 

Rand to the Rescue?

08 Wednesday Mar 2017

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The GOP offers an Amend and Replace for ObamaCare, the ACA. Rand Paul is in hot pursuit of a full repeal:

Though Ryan insisted Tuesday that he’d be able to get the 218 votes he needed to pass the bill in the House and McConnell optimistically predicted Senate passage, Paul’s army made clear that the bill didn’t go far enough to scale back former President Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act.

Instead, Paul said lawmakers should first vote on the same repeal bill that passed Congress but was vetoed last year by Obama, then vote on competing replacement proposals from the Republican leadership and conservatives.

“We are united on repeal, but we are divided on replacement,” Paul said. “What’s the best way to get past this impasse? Let’s vote on what we voted on before: a clean repeal.”

If Paul’s coalition holds, it could doom the leadership’s replacement bill in both chambers.

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Rand Paul / Twitter.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio echoed Rand’s position:

On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Congressional Republicans should introduce and vote on the “exact same” legislation that repeals Obamacare that was sent to President Obama when he held the presidency. Jordan called on his Republican brethren to “do what we told the voters we were going to do.”

“Let’s do this right and, more importantly, let’s do what we told the voters we were going to do,” Jordan said. “That’s why today I’ll be introducing legislation which just says clean repeal. Let’s vote on the exact same thing — 15 months ago, every single Republican in the House, every single Republican in the Senate voted on. We put it on President Obama’s desk.”

Jordan, like GOP Senator Rand Paul, said the current ‘repeal and replace’ legislation being touted by Speaker Paul Ryan is “Obamacare in a different form” and keeps some of the taxes from the original bill.

It almost makes sense: They were in the minority with a hostile President and they almost passed a full repeal. Now, in the majority and with a Chief Executive itching to sign off, they go soft. Almost. Smells like Republicans alright. And only Republicans could make something so simple into such a problem when confronting something so serious. Maybe Mitch and Paul should switch titles with Rand and Jim.

Better do something quick! The Russian moles are coming…

Secrets of the Secret Squirrels: Hacking, Tracking, Spying, Plotting, and Planning

07 Tuesday Mar 2017

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Wikileaks dropped a Daisy Cutter on U.S. Intelligence today with the release of “Vault 7” – thousands of documents on and from the CIA.

Read more at:

The Independent; and

The Mirror.

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Wiki / CIA.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER VAULT 7

The amount of material is vast. Here is some of Wiki’s analysis:

CIA malware targets iPhone, Android, smart TVs
CIA malware and hacking tools are built by EDG (Engineering Development Group), a software development group within CCI (Center for Cyber Intelligence), a department belonging to the CIA’s DDI (Directorate for Digital Innovation). The DDI is one of the five major directorates of the CIA (see this organizational chart of the CIA for more details).

The EDG is responsible for the development, testing and operational support of all backdoors, exploits, malicious payloads, trojans, viruses and any other kind of malware used by the CIA in its covert operations world-wide.

The increasing sophistication of surveillance techniques has drawn comparisons with George Orwell’s 1984, but “Weeping Angel”, developed by the CIA’s Embedded Devices Branch (EDB), which infests smart TVs, transforming them into covert microphones, is surely its most emblematic realization.

The attack against Samsung smart TVs was developed in cooperation with the United Kingdom’s MI5/BTSS. After infestation, Weeping Angel places the target TV in a ‘Fake-Off’ mode, so that the owner falsely believes the TV is off when it is on. In ‘Fake-Off’ mode the TV operates as a bug, recording conversations in the room and sending them over the Internet to a covert CIA server.

This is worse than 1984 because it is real and because Orwell’s world didn’t have smartphones. Use of these devices guarantees some level (usually high) of tracking, prying, and manipulation. And this is what Wiki has disclosed upfront and what they know about. More and more consumer devices – from TVs to HVACs to garage remotes to security systems to refrigerators to watches – are connected and, thus, open to hacking. Wiki goes on:

As of October 2014 the CIA was also looking at infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks. The purpose of such control is not specified, but it would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations.

Your smart, bescreened, talking, sensing, feeling, modern car with the touchscreen, navigation, wi-fi, Bluetooth, cameras, little birds flying around, and all that other garbage that has nothing to do with driving. All of it is vulnerable. And this is nothing new. Shortly after October 2014 I started sounding that alarm.

Actually none of this is new. People have been tapping in and spying since the days of the telegraph. The public was aware (or should have been aware) of the government’s massive, global electronic surveillance apparatus back in the 1990s. Technology has grown since then. The system has grown with it. Assume that any and all electronic browsing, communicating, or other work you do is being monitored and recorded. Odds are, it is.

The CIA has also:

  • Targeted all operating systems;
  • Exploited all known vulnerabilities;
  • Worked with the communications/electronics/computer industry to stay one step ahead of everything;
  • Weaponized everything;
  • Opened the weaponization to mass international proliferation (by nations, companies, and hackers);
  • Spied on just about everyone; and
  • Developed systems to evade most forensics and anti-malware programs.

Much of the recent news about this stuff has centered on the NSA and the FBI, dire and grim outfits to be sure. But the CIA is different. They collect information like no one else. And they act on it. Sometimes lethally. Usually clandestinely. And almost always with deniability or immunity. No one, even in Congress, knows exactly what they do nor how much money they spend. America’s secret police and perhaps her most dangerous agency.

Now, just as the FBI is the big domestic intel agency, the CIA is generally for foreign affairs. By law and operation they are not supposed to target Americans in America (outside the borders, you’re on your own). Not supposed to. Just like you were supposed to keep your doctor you liked under the ACA, with the low prices too. Saddam was supposed to have WMD. Income tax withholding is supposed to go away once Hitler surrenders. Supposed to. Got that?

Just for fun, Google “MK Ultra”. Loads of fun – and still bearing fruit.

Supposed to.

We’re also supposed to have a curious press and diligent academics to look into things like these leaks. Wiki actively encourages that:

WikiLeaks has intentionally not written up hundreds of impactful stories to encourage others to find them and so create expertise in the area for subsequent parts in the series. They’re there. Look. Those who demonstrate journalistic excellence may be considered for early access to future parts.

…

There are very considerably more stories than there are journalists or academics who are in a position to write them.

So start digging and researching. You might get famous for it. You might also want to unplug the TV and remove it from the house.

The American Healthcare Act of 2017

06 Monday Mar 2017

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Whack-a-Bill, everyone’s least favorite carnival game is over. And people were really starting to wonder about the Obamacare repeal repeal and replace whatever…

Remember when Nancy Pelosi famously declared, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it?” She was, of course, referring to the Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare, and was justly skewered by “conservatives” at the time for the outlandish statement. Fast forward seven years, and now it’s the Republicans doing the exact same thing.

The GOP has chosen to conceal the text of what may become the replacement for Obamacare. Not only can you – someone the bill will most definitely affect – not read it. Members of the U.S. Senate are not even allowed to see what is contained in the legislation.

Senator Rand Paul, who is advocating for a complete repeal of the ACA, has made repeated attempts to view what he refers to as “Obamacare Lite,” but has still been unable to get his hands on a copy of the bill. The Kentucky senator has even gone so far as to wheel a copy machine to where he was told the bill was being housed. Paul, a Republican, was denied access.

The secrecy should be enough to alarm citizens across the U.S. and cause the public to demand to see what kind of health care reform may be about to be shoved down their throats. But what Senator Paul believes the bill contains is the most distressing part of this story.

“When we heard it was secret, we wanted to see it even more because if something is secret, you do worry that people are hiding things,” Paul said speaking to CNN.

Well pass around the cigars.The baby is here! THE FULL TEXT.

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I gave it a brief skim through. Much of this requires adjusting the existing law, 42 U.S.C. 300u–11. I don’t feel so ambitious tonight as to do a full reconcile. You’re on your own in that regard.

I see retroactive modification to the Community Health program, back to 2015. And another $422 Million spent.

They want to reroute Medicaid payments to the States. I heard some GOPers jibbering on the news about this: “Power out of Washington! Back to the States!” What about power to the people (and our money with us too)?

Mandates… Where are the mandates???

Oh heck …going to turn over analysis to Fox News. They are calling it a full replacement:

The sweeping legislation would repeal ObamaCare’s taxes along with the so-called individual and employer mandates – which imposed fines for not buying and offering insurance, respectively.

It also would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies, replacing them with tax credits for consumers.

The mandate and the fines were what most concerned me. Unconstitutional intrusion and theft (robbery, really), John Roberts’s “reasoning” aside.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., told Fox News they also “are not pulling the rug out from under people.” Rather, he said Republicans want to restore power to the states and control costs in Medicaid and elsewhere.

“It’ll amount to the biggest entitlement reform, probably in at least the last 20 years,” he said.

Good. Keep those reforms coming on a monthly basis at least. Aim for 1912!

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said …

Who the hell cares?

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the proposal “would cut and cap Medicaid, defund Planned Parenthood, and force Americans, particularly older Americans, to pay more out of pocket for their medical care all so insurance companies can pad their bottom line.”

Yeah, yeah. Killing babies, good; killing old folks, scare tactic… Do shut up, Chuck. He’s probably right about the insurance companies though; they pay Congress well to keep them in the black.

And from possibly the only respectable member of Congress:

However, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the bill “looks like ObamaCare Lite to me … It’s going to have to be better.”

Then, make the changes, Rand. That’s what committees and reconciliation are for. We may have to settle for ObamaCare Lite. Anything would be better than what we have now – a doomed system on imminent approach to bankruptcy and ruin. I’m not sure about Rand but I know his honorable father would, ultimately, like a return to a free enterprise-based system, one sans Medicare, Medicaid, and all other forms of government mismanagement and tyranny. That’s not going to happen … any time soon.

What has to happen is a reform. Is this it? Who knows. At least we have something to read and work with.

I’ve been hounding Congress to fix this mess since the summer of 2012. Finally, we’re getting somewhere. I’ll go ahead and take the credit. You can thank me tomorrow.

Boo Hoo: 17,000 Down, 80,000 to Go

05 Sunday Mar 2017

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The AP reports a wailing and gnashing at the IRS:

The number of people audited by the IRS in 2016 year dropped for the sixth straight year, to just over 1 million. The last time so few people were audited was 2004. Since then, the U.S. has added about 30 million people.

The IRS blames budget cuts as money for the agency shrunk from $12.2 billion in 2010 to $11.2 billion last year. Over that period, the agency has lost more than 17,000 employees, including nearly 7,000 enforcement agents. A little more than 80,000 people work at the IRS.

We should shoot for the same number of IRS employees we had in 1912. Same budget. And the same tax rates too.

Did Obama Break the Law by Surveilling Trump?

05 Sunday Mar 2017

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Evidence is mounting that Obama and his team bugged Trump Tower last year. If this turns out true and if the manner of the surveillance is as it appears, Team Obama is in for serious problems:

If the stories are correct, Obama or his officials might even face prosecution. But, we are still early in all of this and there are a lot of rumors flying around so the key is if the reports are accurate. We just don’t know at this time. The stories currently are three-fold: first, that Obama’s team tried to get a warrant from a regular, Article III federal court on Trump, and was told no by someone along the way (maybe the FBI), as the evidence was that weak or non-existent; second, Obama’s team then tried to circumvent the federal judiciary’s independent role by trying to mislabel the issue one of “foreign agents,” and tried to obtain a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act “courts”, and were again turned down, when the court saw Trump named (an extremely rare act of FISA court refusal of the government, suggesting the evidence was truly non-existent against Trump); and so, third, Obama circumvented both the regular command of the FBI and the regularly appointed federal courts, by placing the entire case as a FISA case (and apparently under Sally Yates at DOJ) as a “foreign” case, and then omitted Trump’s name from a surveillance warrant submitted to the FISA court, which the FISA court unwittingly granted, which Obama then misused to spy on Trump and many connected to Trump. Are these allegations true? We don’t know yet, but if any part of them are than Obama and/or his officials could face serious trouble.

Is this true? Any of it? We’ll find out soon. FISA applications are almost always granted, with complete deference to the Executive branch (12 denials in over 35,000 applications). That the FBI or someone backed off a regular warrant suggests a lack of evidence. That FISA would reject a subsequent application is amazing. The issuance of a follow-up application suggests impropriety (as does this entire episode).

As I mentioned yesterday, a sitting President is one of the few who can obtain FISA records with any ease. And he’s working on it: “”A senior White House official said that Donald F. McGahn II, the president’s chief counsel, was working on Saturday to secure access to what the official described as a document issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court authorizing surveillance of Mr. Trump and his associates.”

If any of this is substantiated, then the “why” behind it, the motives, will be explored – likely as part of the criminal prosecution. Was it an attempt to sway the election? A fishing expedition on Trump? War with Russia related? Who knows?

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Stanford Center.

Here’s an interesting thought, one grounded in existing precedent: what if the alleged actions touch substantially on national security matters (the Russian war angle or terrorism or something related)? Would an attempt to steer the U.S. into harm’s way constitute action giving aid to an enemy? If so determined, then the responsible party(ies) could possible be labeled as “enemy combatants”, accordingly detained, and treated as such.

We may have entered uncharted territory. Developing…